Conductive
by AceZT
Summary: Lab 8 has been Leduc's home for as long as he can remember. He gets up, eats lunch, and goes to bed at the same time EVERY DAY. For someone who's as jittery as the electricity he stores, its gotten rather repetitive. However, one seemingly fatal event will not only satisfy his endless curiosity, but may allow him to learn something truly great about himself. Rated T for Fighting.
1. Chapter 1

Conductive

By: AceZTeller

Chapter 1

_"Attention Lab 8, attention Lab 8. We are now entering our active daytime hours. All employees report to their stations. All experiments report to morning therapy."_

I despised that intercom, always telling me what to do and where to go. Always report here and exit here. I never really felt free here.

Well, time to push those thoughts aside. Opening my eyes, I focused on my surroundings for the first time this morning. My room looked like it always did; a simple room with one door leading in and out with a bed, dresser, intercom, and of course, bathroom. My bed looked like it always did too; a simple yellow cover with white sheets and a fluffy pillow… and jumping with static electricity. Looking down, I saw my normal clothes of a black jumpsuit, white apron, electric controlling arms and electric storing legs. My hair was still a bright blonde and my eyes a deep blue, my skin still quite pale.

I sat up in my bed and stretched out my metal arms and legs to make sure they were functioning. After getting all the static out, I swung my bed-sheets off and sat over the side of my bed. I was always sluggish in the morning, but that was always before I had my shock therapy. Even though it hurt and I hated doing it, I always felt better after it was done. So not wanting to waste any more of the professors or my time, I made my way to my therapy station.

As per usual, my neighboring experiment was still asleep. I guess that's what she gets for watching cartoons so late into the evening. I quietly tiptoed by making as little noise as possible as to not wake her or her cronies up.

After passing through a few more hallways, I came up to the therapy wing of the Lab where I saw the girl I usually saw at this time.

"Jeez, you look groggy," She teased with a smirk. "You should buzz on over to your session, pronto. I think the Doc is operating your room today."

She was Hive the bee-girl, one of my few friends here at the Lab. Like most other experiments, I don't really know her roots or past. However, she was very kind to me on my first day, so I tend to stick around her a lot.

"Is he? That's good. I always feel the best after the Doc does it," I replied slowly. "It still hurts though."

"Jeez Leduc, you're still complaining about that? After so many years of therapy, you would think that you would be used to it by now."

Rolling my eyes, I made my way into my therapy room where the lanky Doctor Avian was waiting along with Dr. Whitefin, the anthropomorphic shark. I approached lethargically, further implicating that I needed my therapy soon. The Doc noticed and said, "Ah, Leduc! So glad to see you! Are you ready for your session?"

"Yes, I am," I replied phlegmatically. "Let's get it over with."

"Good deal. Just do what you normally do and we'll be on our way," The Doc said as nodded his head towards the hulking machine in the back. It was a large metal monstrosity that had wires and lights sticking out of it flowing with electricity. In the center of the machine, a mold shaped exactly to my body with electrodes at the arms and legs for where my electricity is stored. I subconsciously made my way to the mold and clambered in, making sure to secure myself.

After I gave the OK, Dr. Whitefin pressed a few buttons and the machine whirred to life. I started to feel a tingling sensation in my "arms" and "legs" while the Doc started operating the volts and amps being sent through my body. I gritted my teeth as I started to feel the pain that came with being electrocuted so that I could stay alive. Then in a quick flash, the rest of the required electricity surged through my body causing me to yelp in pain until I heard a humming in my arms and legs signaling that I was ready for the day. The electricity ceased and I was able to climb with much more vigor out of the mold to report to wherever I needed to next.

"Feeling better already, I see," The Doc chuckled. "As usual."

"Yep! I feel ready for the day now. So where to now?" I asked enthusiastically.

"Well, actually, I think your wing has the week off so you can go talk with your friends in the lounge if you'd like," The Doc answered with some thought.

I always liked off weeks. It meant nobody had to do work or chores in our wing so we all talked in the lounge about our lives and such. It was a relief to know you had no work.

"Oh, that's great! I guess I'll see you later Dr. Avian," I said walking towards the exit.

* * *

"… And then! With my back to the corner and that monstrosity about ta' eat me skin n' bones…" Peacock said while waving her arms about.

I never do a lot of talking, but I love listening. So I usually listen to what others have to say. Especially Peacock and Big Band, the only two experiments I know who can go beyond the Lab.

"But wait, I thought you said this 'monster' had its mouth sewn shut," Hive thought quizzically. "How could it have eaten you?"

"Ah… erm… uh… TOMMY! ANDY!" Peacock yelled.

"Yeh boss?" The two cronies answered from across the lounge.

"Les git outta here. The queen bee here is spoilin' the mood," Peacock grumbled as she left the table where Hive, Big Band, and I were sitting at.

"Queen Bee?!" Hive remarked after Peacock left. "Hmph! I never bossed anyone around in my life! Especially not like her!"

"Aw come on! It always gets to the good part when you have to tear her story apart!" I whined. "Would you two just drop your precious egos and make amends for once?"

"Ego?!" She gasped. "I've never had an ego all my life, thank you, and I don't intend to have one anytime soon!"

Hive tends to get a bit dramatic when she's irritated, if you didn't notice.

"Say's the girl who refers to herself as Honey," Resounded the bass voice of Big Band

"I most certainly don't!" Hive snapped as I laughed. Big Band hit a pretty sensitive spot. "Oh… why bother talking to you two? You'll tease me to no end," She said with a huff and stormed away.

Big Band and I are on really good terms and we talk constantly. Like Hive, I don't know much about his past, but he was also kind. He's sort of like a mentor/ father to us, which is surprising considering his horribly, disfigured body and voice. He apparently got into an accident a long time ago and had to get an iron lung. Though, most of it is covered by his detective uniform, so I don't know the extent of his lung injury. All I know is that it looks like a musical instrument.

"So Big Band, what's been going on with you?" I asked trying to strike up conversation.

"Same ol' same ol'," He replied.

"Oh, so not much huh? How's outside the Lab?" I asked.

"Same as it always is. Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason, I just get curious about what it's like out there. I've never seen it you know."

There was a long pause from Big Band. He then asked, "How come you always ask me and Peacock what happens outside?"

"Well, because I get really curious. I'm envious of the fact that you get to go out whenever and I always stay behind with Hive. "

Another pause from Big Band.

"Not that there's anything wrong with Hive, It's just, I feel so confined all the time in here. If I could go out just once, I would be happy."

Big Band replied that Dr. Avian gave him his permission to leave. Maybe the Doc could get mine too.

"Really? I mean, I don't know. Do you think he could let me out?"

Big Band just gave a shrug and lumbered away signifying the conversation was over; truly a man of few words. Not knowing what to do next, I left the lounge and made my way to my room to think. I usually do my best thinking while walking, so this was good. If Big Band got permission from Dr. Avery that he could leave, how come he could? Well, he is a cop so that's a pretty important reason. Peacock has to find the Skullgirl so that's a good reason. I'm guessing you need a reason to get out of the Labs if you even want to think of doing it. So what was my reason? Well, I don't have one, but that one ragdoll can get out on good behavior so maybe I could too.

I was thinking these things when I passed by my therapy room on my way to my room. In it were Dr. Avery and Dr. Whitefin making upgrades to my machine. I was hesitant to ask Dr. Avery right now about my predicament so I continued on my way. The Doc must have seen me hesitating so he spoke up and said, "Leduc! What are you doing back here? To my knowledge, you hate your therapy… unless you want to do it again."

"NO I… ahem… No, I was going to ask you a question. What would it take to go outside the Lab?"

Dr. Avery's light-hearted look instantly disappeared at the mention of my question. I regretted asking it almost immediately. Who knows what he's thinking.

"Well… you see Leduc," Dr. Avery started awkwardly, "You're not meant to be outside, nor do you have enough experience with combat and the like. Not to mention how dangerous a rainstorm is for you. There are too many variables. We just can't afford to send you out yet."

"Oh… I see. Well, thanks anyways Doc," I said dejectedly. "I'll be on my way."

"Just a moment, Mr. Leduc!" Dr. Whitefin interjected. "Could you actually humor us once more today? I want to make sure your machine is in top order."

With a heavy sigh and nothing better to do, I replied, "Sure, just the normal procedure?"

"Yes, just how you would normally do it," Dr. Whitefin answered.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but I can't stay. I have to check on the Argus unit," The Doc said looking at his watch. "I hope it goes well for you two."

"Thank you Doctor and farewell!" Dr. Whitefin said with a wave as the Doc left. "Now in layman's terms, Mr. Leduc, we might have upgraded the machine to give you more concentrated electricity in one session so you don't have to come here as often. What do you think?"

"Actually, that sounds quite convenient. But how much will it hurt?" I asked with a twinge of worry.

"Well, a lot more. But you won't have to come in for weeks if it works. Are you still up for it?"

I had to think hard on this one. The machine had taken on a whole new look since this morning. It looked much bigger than before; there were a lot more wires and lights. That and I actually had to be cuffed into the mold in order for it to work. Just how much work did these two do during the day? Even if I was thinking rather hard, I was too depressed to do anything sensible after Dr. Avian's lecture, so I answered, "Yeah, I'll still do it."

"Excellent! I'll fire it up! You get in the machine!" He ordered with a renewed enthusiasm.

Following his orders, I climbed into the mold and lay down how I normally did. But this time, cuffs automatically latched into spots on my arms and legs. Why, I wasn't sure, but something seemed weird about this whole thing.

"Are you ready for the testing session?" Dr. Whitefin yelled as the much louder machine whirred to life.

I closed my eyes and nodded my head to say yes and I heard a few buttons being pressed. The noise in the room quieted for a few seconds before I started to hear my arms and legs buzz with electricity. At first it tickled, but a few minutes later the electricity hit its peak… at least, on the old machine. By now, my body was saying 'Tough it out! It's almost done!' but it never stopped causing my clenched teeth to grind fiercely. The pain then escalated to twice what it normally is and I started to breathe short, quick wisps of air. Thinking that I couldn't take much more of this, I yelled, "Stop! It's starting to hurt too much!"

I opened one eye to see a panicked Dr. Whitefin madly pressing buttons and flicking switches as the machine's noise got louder leading me to the inevitable conclusion that it couldn't be stopped. Suddenly, the electricity seemed to surge at ten times what it normally did causing me to scream in pain and contort my body. I could feel every cell in my body surge with electricity as I struggled to keep consciousness while fighting this onslaught of pain. Just when I thought that I was going to black out and maybe even die, the electricity peaked at an extremely high level compared to what it normally felt causing me to scream bloody-murder before the control panel Dr. Whitefin was working exploded in a brilliant electricity storm and the machine I was in exploded in a big fire-ball of energy sending me flying to the floor. The last thing I saw was what was left of the machine fall on an injured Dr. Whitefin when I blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Conductive

Chapter 2

"_Attention Lab 8, Attention Lab 8. We are running on emergency power to give you this message. Find your way to…"_

I listened to the intercom subconsciously before it cut out. Slowly regaining my senses, I opened my unfocused eyes to see a dark red light flashing in the room I was in. Getting up, I realized I was in my therapy room along with the wreckage that was my shock therapy machine. Letting my eyes focus let me see that Dr. Whitefin was nowhere to be found in the room. What happened while I was out?

I remembered the events leading up to me blacking out. I got up surprisingly quick and I noticed that my legs felt stronger than ever and my arms felt great. In fact, I felt great! That machine must have worked because I feel like I could start drumming on a drum and go on forever.

I took in my surroundings and again my eyes led me to the flashing red light. I approached it with caution afraid it might trigger something. So it was no wonder when the light started moving across the ceiling I jumped in fright causing my arms to buzz with power. If anything, my emotions controlled my electricity even more now that more seemed to be in me. I'd best be careful, but curiosity got the best of me when I tried to follow the red light. It led me out of the room and down the therapy wing. I noticed that this light was the only light on in the entire Laboratory.

I was following this light for a good while down therapy wing when it suddenly took a sharp left down a hallway I had never seen before. I followed it into the hall to find a door at the end of it with the same red lights around it as the one I was following. It was a long walk, but when I reached the door it looked like no door I had seen in the Lab before.

It was a heavy metal door with a huge handle unlike the many automatic doors here. The red lights around it seemed to flash faster the closer to the door I got. In fact, the lights stopped flashing altogether when I decided to touch the door. My observation of the door not being automatic was shot down when the handle on the door slowly creaked down and the door started making noises from its inmost mechanisms. This continued for a while until the noise ceased and the handle of the door somehow started to flash red. I took as my signal to open the door and did so. Slowly and surely, the heavy door screeched open with my powerful arms pushing it.

With each step I took to push it, I noticed a bright ray of light would peek out from the opening of the door and I felt a cool breeze rush by. I had never really seen or felt either of these things, so I was curious as to what was on the other side. With one great shove, I opened the door fully and saw a breathtaking sight. I had finally made it out of the lab and I felt my heart swell with wonder.

I had made it out of the Lab! In the distance, I could see a city filled with things I had only heard of from Big Band. I saw great skyscrapers, stadiums, buildings, and other curiosities. From where I was, which was quite far away, it was stunning. There were even cars speeding down nearby roads. While looking at these roads, I noticed that they were coming out of a tunnel on a cliff, a cliff I seemed to be standing on. Turning around, I looked at what could only be the outside of the lab and I was quite surprised as to what I saw.

The door I came out of was camouflaged because it was a part of a big billboard that read, 'Autumn Games'. I guess the people at the Lab don't want people to know where we are located. Well, if I was going to look around, at least it will be easy to find the Lab again.

Looking to my left, I saw a beautiful little town that seemed to be colored in a bright orange glow. It seemed to have a lot of houses and I could see people walking around and driving in cars. If anything it was considerably closer to where I was so I guess I could go there if I wanted to look around the outside world. Looking to my right, I saw a rough looking town that instead of roads coming from it, there was waterways with boats instead of cars. The town itself looked like where someone Dr. Whitefin would love to live at; it had many wooden buildings connected by bridges over the water and big, muscular, hardy people walking about. The reason I could see all this was because this town was even closer than the last one. This coupled with the fact that the only way down this cliff besides climbing down it was going in that town's direction, I decided to go to the rough looking town.

There was a path leading down the cliff to my right that seemed to curve along with the cliff-side right to the spot where the town was. I followed it down while examining the tree-life and creatures that scurried away at the sight of me. Big Band normally spoke of plants and flowers but there was no way he could actually describe their splendor. With their soft whites and bold blues, it was much more exciting than the monochromatic Lab.

When I got fairly close to the city and I was walking along a river, I saw what I thought to be the head of an odd looking animal with a white fur and long black ears. It was in a bush, so maybe it was napping. Upon closer inspection, it was in fact napping. I couldn't see its face to try and guess what it was though. So I decided to move a few leaves out of the way to get a better look. What happened next was shocking.

I accidentally moved the branch under the animals head. The reaction: the head of the animal/human hybrid rolled out still asleep with no body attached to it. I stood terrified at the head and wondered how it could still be alive before I lost all sense of rationality and screamed.

During my scream, the head woke up with a start which somehow made a matching human body fall from a tree above the bush. Scared out of my wits, my arms switched to battle mode and I gave the body an electric-filled punch sending it flying down-river. When it finally stopped, it lay in a charring heap smoking from the excessive electricity running through it.

In a moment of insanity, I turned towards the head about to punch its brains out until it started to speak… or rather beg.

"Neow wait a minute! Stop! Please don't hurt me! I have no_body_ to save me!" The head said in a panicked tone.

I was seriously about to punch it, but was stopped when I actually realized what the head was saying.

"Did you just say that you have no_BODY_ to save you?" I asked calming down.

"Huh? Oh… Oh! Sorry about that. Puns are kind of my forte," The head who started to look like a woman's head said. "Umm, can I get my body back?"

"Uh… sure?" I answered. "You… ah… need help getting over there?"

"Well aren't you a gentleman! I guess I could use a _lift,_" She hinted.

Not one to ignore a hint, I awkwardly attempted to lift the head until the head panicked and said, "Wait! Turn those things off first!" which caused me to look at my arms which were still surging with electricity. I made sure that the electricity was gone before switching my arms to normal mode and picked up the head.

I was trying to intake what the hell was going on when the head spoke again, "So kid, what's your name?"

"Huh? My name's Leduc. Um… what's yours? Or does your body have another name or something?"

"Hah! Nope, my full-bodied name is Ms. Fortune."

"Well, it is a misfortune that I hurt your body, but you didn't need to bring it up," I said embarrassedly.

"No, you don't understand. What you can call me is Ms. Fortune," The head said rather seriously.

"You just said that! You can stop rubbing it in my face now…"

"Ugh! My name is Nadia. There, you happy?"

"You could've just said that in the first place instead of teasing me!" I accused. If anything, Ms. Nadia here is one hell of a smartass.

We reached the body not much later, still smoldering and still smoking. Nadia proceeded to jump out of my arms and in a rather comical way whistle a cat call to get the body to "wake up". It too woke up rather comically by stretching its back like a cat would and purring loudly. When it was done, the body picked up the head and plucked it on her neck.

Now that I got a good look at her, she was actually pretty normal looking. She had a heavy tan and cat-like features on her hands, feet, and of course, head. She even had a tail! Her hair was a snowy-white and her eyes a turquoise blue. She stood quite tall, about a head above me… Damn! I think this lady's puns are rubbing off on me.

Her clothes were the only abnormal thing. They seemed to be quite… revealing. I'm not trying to sound like a pervert, but she wore enough clothes to just cover the skin that didn't have a huge white scar. In fact, her whole body even seemed to have a pattern of white scars, even where she connected her neck and head together. This led me to ask, "Why do you have so many scars? Can you dismember yourself in other places besides your head and neck?"

Nadia just laughed and replied, "Leduc, there are rules about talking to a lady, and the first rule is to NEVER ask about physical appearance."

Fair enough. She wasn't asking about my arms and legs, so I guess I couldn't complain. I was about to ask why she was napping near a cliff-side path when I heard a loud grumbling and it wasn't Nadia purring.

"Eh heh heh… I guess I'm a bit hungry after all that. What say we have some catnip, hmm?" Nadia said.

I didn't really notice until then, but I was starving. I usually am after I use electricity in any way. So I answered, "Yeah, I could use some food."

"That's good, because I know this great place for Chinese. Come on, and follow me!" She said while turning towards the rough water town.

I didn't know what Chinese was, but it sounded weird. Not wanting to be rude though, I followed.

Nadia was the first to speak on the way there, "I must say, you took the whole head thing quite well."

"Oh that?" I said trying to sound casual instead of insane. "It was nothing. Just a bit weird is all."

Nadia sighed and then said, "Rule number two: don't call a lady weird. I suppose you haven't spoken to a lot of girls, have you?"

"Umm… if I count you, I've talked to three normally," I answered in all seriousness.

"Wow, you need purractice. Luckily, I know someone who's just about your age. I think you two would hit it off nicely," Nadia said with a wink. "After all, you are quite a looker."

I blushed heavily at her statement. No girl has ever called me good looking, especially not someone older than me. Nadia took notice and laughed. "Don't worry, Casanova. We've just about reached Little Insmouth."

That must be the name of the town, though I couldn't imagine why. It looked like I imagined it though; a robust, hardy, rugged looking town. The people there threw me for a loop though because they all looked like anthropomorphic fish, kind of like Dr. Whitefin. Did he come from here?

"Nadia, can I ask a question about the people here?" I asked thinking there might be rules about that.

"If you're going to ask if I ever get the urge to eat them, then your lunch is gone," She replied seriously.

"NO PLEASE! Ah… no. I was going to ask why all these fish people are even here…?"

"Actually, they are called Dagonians. They mostly live here since the ocean is but a swim away from Little Insmouth. There the majority here and you and I are the minority."

"They look so intimidating…" I said while glancing at a shark Dagonian with a hook through its upper lip.

"Eh, there all looks. Speaking of which, Mew Nyan runs the restaurant were going to and he may talk a big game, but he's a big softie. So just follow my lead," Nadia said when we approached an isolated building in the middle of one of the canals. We crossed the bridge into the building and I was met with a pleasant surprise.

The restaurant looked surprisingly busy with Dagonian waiters and waitresses carrying trays of foods I've never seen before. The back had a few Dagonians who looked like they were cooking various meals at a breakneck pace. Jeez, Big Band said restaurants could be chaotic, but I never imagined this!

I was still looking around when Nadia waved me over to a long table that sat right in front of the cooks. I made my way over to see that Nadia was making conversation with a surly looking Dagonian.

"Leduc, I'd like you to meet Mew Nyan," Nadia said gesturing towards this daunting person. "Mew Nyan, this is my new friend Leduc."

"Pleasure to meet ya, I'm Yu Wan, owner and proprietor of this fine establishment," He said gruffly and proudly. "I suppose you've heard of our famous food?"

"Actually," I said self-consciously. "I've never even visited this town before, much less heard of your restaurant…"

"WHAT?! You mean you've never eaten at Yu Wan's Restaurant?" Yu Wan asked mortified.

"Ah… no. I haven't really left home before. Restaurants are a first for me," I said even more embarrassed than before.

"Well, I'll make sure you'll have the finest experience in the Canopy Kingdom," Yu Wan said gruffly. "MINETTE!"

"Yes?" Some unidentified voice yelled back.

"Nadia's here and she brought a friend! Wait on them, will ya?" Yu Wan yelled while cleaning his hands.

"Really?! I'll be right out!" The voice yelled back, obviously excited.

"You two wait here for your menus, and I'll get cooking, good looking" Yu Wan said while going through some doors to where they cooked the food I guessed.

"Yeah, remember that person who I said was your age?" Nadia asked when Yu Wan was gone. "Her name's Minette."

"That's nice, but I don't really know who that is. Is she nice?" I asked.

"Very. She gives everyone a chance so I'm sure she'll like you and you'll like her," She answered with some thought. "She's the nicest person I've ever known."

"She sounds nice enough," I said trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, she's very… Oh look, there she is!"

I looked to where she was pointing and saw what I thought was a Dagonian but I couldn't tell with all the dishes she was carrying. From what I could see, she was carrying a pile of plates and such that went over her head. That takes some mad balance skills right there. I think even Peacock would be impressed.

"Over here, Minette, at the counter!" Nadia said. Minette heard and started making her way over to where we were at all the while carrying a huge pile of tableware.

"Whew! Sorry I'm taking so long, but I had to do a little busing," She said wearily. "Do you have menus, or did Yu Wan drop that on me?"

"He said that's your job, girl," Nadia replied with a snicker.

"Ugh!" She groaned. "I ask him to do a simple thing and he doesn't. One day, I'm gonna…"

"Going to what, Ms. Minette?" I heard Yu Wan yell from the kitchen.

Minette sighed/groaned and put the dishes in a large bin behind the counter we were sitting at and picked up some menus from next to the bin.

"Busy day, huh?" Nadia asked smartly.

"You have no idea," She said as she turned around letting me get a good look at her. She looked noticeably more human than other Dagonians I've already seen, but still held many fish features too. She had human facial features such as a nose and mouth with purple eyes as opposed to a shark face like Dr. Whitefin, and unlike flippers and fins she had hands and feet. However, she had light blue skin and dark blue scales along her arms that seemed commonplace amongst Dagonians. She didn't have hair much like all the Dagonians I've seen, but she came close with something black that looked more like a tail. She wore an apron and a simple black dress with white leggings underneath along with sea themed jewelry.

"So Yu Wan said you brought a friend? Where is she?" Minette asked while handing Nadia a menu.

"Not a she, silly, it's a guy. This is Leduc," She said gesturing in my direction.

She turned her confused gaze in my direction and started to scrutinize every inch of my body – what was left of it that is. If she was at all surprised about my cyborg limbs, she didn't show it, which was a small relief. Not enough to calm me down though; I have never been so terrified in all my life. Oddly enough, though, her gaze softened up a bit.

"Ahem!" Nadia said rather loudly. "Minette? Leduc? Can I have some food now? Or should I wait till you're finished?"

"Huh…..? Oh! Sorry about that!" Minette said with heated cheeks. "Should I just get you two the usual?"

"Sure! I love me some dumplings!" Nadia exclaimed.

"Ok, I'll get right on that," Minette said while walking towards the kitchen. "Just… uh… It'll be done in a few."

"Thanks a lot," I said before she entered the kitchen.

"Ha Ha! That was the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Nadia said in hysterics. "Why didn't you talk to her? Things were going so well!"

"Huh? No! I mean… I said thanks right?" I stammered.

"Awww~ you're so cute when you're nervous!" Nadia complimented causing my probably already beet-red face to get even redder.

"Whatever. By the way, what is a dumpling?" I said trying to sound unfazed by her teasing and to steer the conversation away.

"They're manna from cat-heaven and that's all you need to know," She said with a happy sigh. "Just try one and you'll love it! I guarantee it!"

"What's manna?" I asked seriously confused but glad the conversation was away from Minette.

"Goodness, you really are clueless aren't you?" She said with disbelief.

"Now wait, your saying Leduc here has never heard of dumplings?" Yu Wan asked when he came out of the kitchen with some plates of food. "Well, you're in for a treat, 'cause we make the best dumplings in the kingdom."

He put two plates down for both Nadia and I, each plate filled with food. I gave it a scrutinizing look until Nadia said, "Aww, stop undressing it and eat it will you?" She popped a round looking piece of food which I could only guess was a dumpling into her mouth. I looked down at my food and with a heavy sigh picked up a dumpling to eat it.

That is, until I heard loud crashes come from the other end of the restaurant that shook the very ground. There were cries of panic and people were hiding under the table from whatever- or whoever- did this. I looked to where the source of the noise came from and saw… a gigantic pair of orange arms. Jeez, first heads and now upper bodies?

The arms had crashed through the wall near the entrance making a gaping hole. I sat in fear wondering what it was when I heard footsteps from behind the arms. Appearing behind the arms was a girl with light green hair, lips, and nails, an extravagant dress, and an extremely nice body. In one swift motion she picked up the arms causing it to shrink into a hat, twirled it around and threw it into the air and gave a bow.

"Your attention please!" She exclaimed. "I've come with a task and I intend to finish it. So your cooperation will help you… unless you wish to cross the mafia's path."

"You're part of the Mafia?!" Nadia asked angrily causing me to jump.

"Yes I am… Wait! You're that thief who's been getting in our way!" The girl exclaimed just as angrily. "I ought to skin you like a cat for what you've done to us! How dare you show your face!"

"What, you want a better look? Then here!" Nadia said while taking her head off and throwing it at the strange girl.

Before it could reach her, though, the girl's hat came back down from being thrown and landed on her head transforming back into a pair of arms. She then gave the flying head a mighty punch using the arms sending it flying right back at Nadia. It hit her square in the gut causing her to double over in pain.

At that moment, complete chaos. People tried to run for their lives as to escape this mafia girl. As for me, I was in battle mode and pissed off. I'm very sensitive about friends and what others do to them. Hurting a friend of mine is sinful in my book, so I helped Nadia up and head-on charged…DAMN! ANOTHER PUN!

I dodged and weaved my way between the escaping civilians trying to reach this girl to give her a little shock. She seemed to be looking for someone, so it was my chance to lay a hit on her. I charged up some amps and gave a mighty punch aimed at her gut. Unfortunately, she saw me at the last second and somehow managed to somersault out of the way with those giant arms on her head leaving me dumbstruck.

'How did she do that?!' I thought to myself. It didn't matter though because she somehow transitioned from her somersault into a head-on charge in my direction. No problem. I'll give her a little sting of energy if she wants to get close. I wound up my punch and threw it… only to see her flawlessly dodge it and end up behind me.

"Down from Tokyo!" She shouted. Giving me no time to respond, she jabbed me on my entire backside with her two orange arms and I went FLYING. I ended up crashing into the very seat I was sitting at earlier at the other side of the restaurant. I had never been in an actual fight before, the exercises I did at the Lab weren't helping right now, and I was in a surprising amount of pain. If I wanted to beat this tumbling stick of dynamite, I was going to have to get creative. No more punches.

I got up to see Nadia in combat with this girl without her head on. I was looking for it until she actually tapped my foot with it causing me to do a double-take. She was somehow fighting and talking to me at the same time without a head and body attached. Witchcraft, I say.

"I need you to empty this restaurant! Too many innocent civilians are in here and they need to stay safe. Gather them up and send them out, then help me fight! After all, you punch pretty well for a kid!" She explained. I gave a nod and started looking for people to save. Many were still hiding under tables and it wasn't long before most of the people were safe and out of the restaurant. Many times I had to physically carry them out though, and that was exhausting. I was nearly done and the last people in the restaurant were (surprise surprise) Yu Wan and Minette.

I rushed over to where they were, behind the counter I was sitting at, and said, "You two need to leave now! Nadia and I have this under control!"

"What are ya kidding me? The captain goes down with his ship!" Yu Wan said over the sounds of struggle. "I'm not moving an inch!"

"Jeez… well if you won't get out on your own, I'll make you get out." I said grabbing his leg and attempting to drag him out. Unfortunately, he was as strong as he looked so he was true to his word. My grip slipped eventually and I fell backwards onto the floor. Clueless as to what to do and frustrated beyond comprehension, I banged my fist on the ground.

To my complete astonishment, I heard some kind of beep from my fist and a second later a bolt of electricity shot out of it hitting Yu Wan causing him to yelp in pain.

"Alright! Alright! I'm going! Enough of the zapping!" He retorted and bumbled over to an exit. That was odd. I knew I could discharge electricity, but I didn't know I could shoot electric blasts. That'd come in handy with the fight!

I then turned to the last civilian left in the restaurant, Minette. She looked absolutely terrified of the whole ordeal that was going on. The poor girl, and with her friend Nadia fighting, she didn't really get any reassuring words besides "we're going down with the ship". So in my most comforting voice, I said, "We need to get you out of here. Who knows what might happen to the restaurant if the fighting continues."

"I…. I…. I can't…." She stammered.

"You can't? Why not?" I asked, afraid she had been injured.

"I…. can't… move…" She finished.

Oh boy. I already had a few people like this, but now it was awkward. I couldn't just carry her out of the warzone, that'd just be weird. So I had to convince her to move.

"Minette, look at me. I need to get you out of the restaurant. I can't do it alone though. You have to help me," I explained.

"But I… I…"

"No buts. I need your help. Nadia needs your help. Yu Wan needs your help. You have to do this."

Minette gave a lot of thought about it, a lot of thought which I had to hurry up, but when she was done, she said, "I'll… I'll do it."

I gave a smile of relief and helped her off the ground. Using the counter as protection, we scoped out the scene to try and find an escape route. The best way out seemed to be the gaping hole the orange arms made. Nadia and the tumbler were on the other side of the restaurant, so I deduced that way to be the best.

"So here's what we have to do," I started. "Make a mad dash to the giant hole in the wall and get out of here, is that a plan?"

"That's the best you could come up with?" She asked in horror. "We're doomed…"

"Oh come on, you're gonna get out of here. Just follow me. We'll make it out," I said taking the first step beyond the counter. From here, I could hear every word Nadia and the arm-hat girl were saying… or bantering to each other.

"I don't know why you're here girl, but I'm afraid I'll have to send you back empty hatted."

"We both know why I'm here: for her."

"I don't know who you're talking about."

It looked like it was getting rough for Nadia, so I signaled for Minette to follow me. We took the first few steps slowly and quietly. We could still see the brawl going on between the two fighters and it wasn't looking good for Nadia. The other one had Nadia pinned on the ground.

"Look, feline, as pissed as I am, my fight isn't with you. Where is the gill girl?!"

"Gill girl? I know tons of them! I couldn't tell you even if I knew!

CRASH!

The fighters both looked straight at me. I looked down and saw that I had stepped on and broken a plate. I glanced behind me and saw Minette with her hands to her mouth in shock. I looked back at the two brawlers.

"Wait… you don't mean…" Nadia said putting the pieces together.

"Found you, gill girl!" The arm-girl said and threw Nadia out of the way.

"You remember the plan, right?" I asked petrified in my spot.

"Yeah…."Minette said.

"MAD DASH TIME!" I yelled grabbing Minette's arm and rushing towards the exit. I ran and Minette ran as fast as we could, but with her dress and my metal legs, we just weren't meant for running. I glanced over my shoulder to see the tumbler charging at Minette like she was earlier to me.

In a last stand, I stopped made sure Minette was protected by me and awaited the charge from the tumbler. For some odd reason though, she smiled as if she were amused and charged faster. Until it hit me…

_It didn't matter though because she somehow transitioned from her somersault into a head-on charge in my direction. No problem. I'll give her a little sting of energy if she wants to get close. I wound up my punch and threw it… only to see her flawlessly dodge it and end up behind me._

That move! I told myself if I wanted to beat this girl, I had to get creative. Minette was behind me, so she must be trying to swipe her without me looking! In a spark of creativity, I grabbed Minette and put her in front of me. Sure enough, the arm-girl passed by harmlessly allowing me to take Minette's place, and sure enough she picked me up with those arms on her head allowing me to counter.

But wait, how could I counter if I was being held? Electricity!

I gave the arms and the girl an intense shock of discharged electricity causing her to slump down and drop me as well. In her moment of defenselessness, I charged up my trademark punch, wound up, and clocked her right on the chin with a nasty uppercut. I don't mean to brag, but she must've flown ten feet into the air after that sucker! When she finally landed, she was on the ground disoriented and confused so I told a horrified Minette, "Get out of here! She's after you, go!"

Minette didn't even waste a minute… I hate puns. She raced out of the hole in the wall leaving just me, Nadia and whoever this was to fight it out.

Speaking of Nadia, she had just gotten up from being tossed aside like garbage and was slowly making her way towards me.

"Meowch… what happened?" She asked rubbing her head.

"I got Minette out safely and practically knocked this girl out. By the way, who is she?"

"You knocked her out?" She said in disbelief while looking at the crumpled heap on the floor. "You just knocked out Cerebella the diamond dynamo of the circus. She never struck me as the goon type for the mafia though."

I knew what a circus was from watching cartoons with Peacock once in a while, but I didn't know what a 'mafia' was. Seeing how dangerous Cerebella was, I didn't want to find out anytime soon. That explained how she was so agile though; I saw circus people doing all sorts of maneuvers in the air or on the ground so it was no surprise to hear the Cerebella was a circus girl.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a groan from Cerebella. She seemed to (finally) be getting up albeit with a lot of pain. She was jittery from the electricity passing through her and the spot I punched her was black from the heat of it. She just looked in horrible shape. Same could be said about her hat that was patched with black burn marks all around it. Neither of them looked too happy to see us.

"Just leave, Cerebella. You seem like a nice person; I can't believe you're doing this willfully," Nadia said sympathetically.

"Why ARE you doing this?" I asked seriously confused. "What would you have to gain?"

"None of your business!" She retorted.

"Why? Why do you need to kidnap Dagonians?" Nadia asked.

"Stop talking! I'm going to enjoy this…" She said furiously while raising the arms on her hat. She then lunged towards Nadia with intent to kill.

With reaction only a cat could have, Nadia dodged the attack attempt and tried to counter with a flurry of scratches. Cerebella was just as fast, though, and blocked the counter attempt leading to many attempts at injury, but neither gave any ground. Cerebella was stronger though and Nadia was tiring. Thinking of how I could help, I remembered when I zapped Yu Wan with a bolt of electricity by banging the bottom of my fist. Maybe I could 'assist' Nadia by using that to my advantage.

Standing quite far from the ensuing battle, I aimed my fist at Cerebella and banged it on my other hands palm to try and get the same bolt as before. To my surprise, it actually worked even better… albeit it only went a few feet in front of me. Maybe that's as far as I was going to get, so I tried to get in closer to Cerebella.

I waited for a moment when both Nadia and Cerebella weren't fighting so as to make sure it was safe to pop out near Cerebella. She certainly was surprised when I did giving me an upper hand, but I couldn't get a hit off before she set her sights on me. I kept fumbling around my hands trying to get a good shot, but my clumsiness showed as Cerebella swiftly tumbled around keeping my aim off.

"What're you doing?! Get out of there!" Nadia ordered. It was too late though because Cerebella was now using her arm-hat to somehow glide in on me. I wasn't ready for an aerial attack, but I was certainly about ready to eat it. HARD.

That is, until Nadia came out and assisted me. She turned around and in one swift motion, gave a handstand kick to Cerebella by stretching her arms and legs to the point where you could see muscle fibers coming out of her white scars. I guess she could dismember herself in other places if she needed to. While Cerebella was careening through the air, Nadia said, "Don't make me come out here again. This is your fight now."

Cerebella landed on the ground even more ticked off than before and her eyes still locked on me. She got up and started after me again. This time, I was ready and attempted to shoot a bolt out of my fist.

I banged my fist on my palm as soon as Cerebella was in range of the bolt. I saw the energy being shot out of my fist and witness my first direct hit of the day, and let me tell you… IT FELT GREAT! The electricity was short ranged, but very strong causing Cerebella to crumple to her knees on hit. I used the opportunity to charge another electric punch and again cuffed her chin.

This time, she went through the restaurant wall leaving another gaping hole. I was getting pretty good at these punches! I heard a splash come from outside and went to the edge of the restaurant and looked out. Cerebella had fallen into the river the restaurant sat upon and was busy trying to find shoreline to climb out on. She looked none too happy.

"Nice going, kid," Nadia said when she walked up to me. "You gave us all a real _shock_ with those punches. I didn't think you were that strong."

"Neither did I, but I'm just glad nothing bad happened to anyone. Well… almost," I said looking at the two staring holes in the wall. "Yu Wan is going to have a fit."

"_Mew _ain't kidding. If I know Mew Nyan, he's going to want Cerebella's head on a platter for the stunt she pulled," She said while we watched Cerebella struggle out of the water. "I feel bad for her though. She seems nice enough; why is she with the mafia?"

"I don't know why she would or even what a 'mafia' is, but she won't be back. I hope…"

"You don't know about the mafia?" Nadia asked in disbelief. "What rock have you been living under?"

"For your information, I live in…" I started, but stopped myself in time remembering that if anything, the Lab didn't want to be found out.

THE LAB! I had completely forgotten about it! I should be getting back! Maybe someone is looking for me… or I should be looking for someone else.

"…Uhmm, I live in…" I said trying to remember if I knew the name of the big city I saw out on the cliff. "What's the name of that big city to the north of here?"

"New Meridian?" She said, obviously confused.

"Yeah… Yeah! New Meridian! I had forgotten for a second… heh, sorry," I said, trying to walk away from Nadia. "It has gotten late, I should really go."

"Yeah, I guess," She said with a hint of suspicion. "Do you have to go? You didn't even take a bite of food."

That's right; I hadn't even taken a sniff of the dumplings yet. I had to go though, so unless I could take it with me, there was no way I could eat it. "Is there a way to take it with me? I really have to go…"

"Mew bet'cha! They're some takeout boxes in the kitchen," She said while walking towards the counter where I noticed out of all the broken things in this restaurant, the plate of dumplings was untouched. She came back out with the box and gave me the dumplings. "Hope to see you again soon!"

I gave my thanks and left towards the large cliff. Luckily, I left before Yu Wan got back, because I heard him throwing a fit all the way from the edge of town. On my way back up the cliff, I had noticed that through all of today's events the outside world had transitioned to a lovely evening with an amber radiance coming from the sun. I almost forgot all of the anxiety I had upon returning to the lab, which I wasn't really looking forward too. Who knows what they would say when I arrived.

I finally made it to the billboard I left the lab from and I took one last look at the outside world. The trek up the cliff gave me a beautiful view of all the different cities. To top it off, I sat there and ate the dumplings which were a million times better than any food I've ever eaten in the lab, which made it that much harder to go back in. Would I ever come out again? Would I ever see my new friends again? With these thoughts, and a deep, ragged sigh, I entered the door.

Upon entry, I was surprised to see that the hallway I came from was now bright with light. It had seemed that the power was functioning again. Unfortunately, that also probably meant that I was being searched for right now. I shut the large door behind me and hurriedly made my way to the end of the hall while thinking of some excuse for being missing. When I reached the end of that hall, much like on my way here, I didn't know what part of the lab I was in. Before I could decide which way to go though, I saw Hive turn the hall from my left. She saw me and waved as she made her way over.

"Well, there you are! You sure look energetic this morning. How come you're awake already?" She asked, much to my confusion.

"Wait, its morning?" I asked, distinctly remembering that it was evening outside. I tried to check the hallway behind me, but it had disappeared. That or the hall was just closed away by some kind of door.

"Uh… Yeah?" She replied with an odd look. "Why? What's going on?"

"Oh… Right!" I exclaimed trying to think of something. "That therapy session must've screwed with my perception of time…"

"That's right! What happened in that therapy session yesterday? We all heard a big boom and no one from our wing was allowed to go to our therapy wing today. The equipment was all moved somewhere else."

This was news to me. So if I remember, I had my second therapy session yesterday in the late afternoon in the lab. I was then knocked out and the lab was dark when I woke up. However, the outside looked like it was in the early afternoon. So if the lab is in the morning right now and the outside world is in the evening right now…

"Well I'm not entirely sure. All I remember is waking up on the floor of my therapy room with broken equipment scattered around me. But if what the Professors did to me worked, I don't think I have to sleep anymore. I was spending all night wandering around the lab because I couldn't find my room," I answered. What I said wasn't all lies, but I don't think I should go around telling people that I was outside the lab.

"Well, you shouldn't have done that," she scolded. "Right now, you're in the nursing area. You know that the only experiments allowed back here are Ilium and I."

"Since when are you allowed back here?"

"I'm the hall monitor, remember? I can't actually get into the nursing rooms."

She was right, though I didn't know being hall monitor gave her the power to walk back here. I asked how to get back to the lounge so I could at least relax a little. She agreed and led me down the hall to the left. After a right, a left, a right, a left, and down a flight of stairs to the right, we made a left turn to a hallway that was rather close to the lounge. Being sure to remember the directions, I thanked Hive and we both went our separate ways.

Arriving in the lounge, I noticed the hallway was marked as Wing O. That was easy enough to remember: O for Outside. I went to my usual spot to find Peacock trying to make a house of cards with her cronies watching intently. I decided to quietly sit down and watch as she put the last two cards on the top.

"Way to go, Boss!" The one who looked like a giant weight exclaimed.

"Yeah, good on ya!" Said the one who looked like an anvil.

I decided to speak up as well and said, "Good job, Peacock!"

All three of the lot jumped at my voice, but Peacock said, "Look, it's pretty-boy! Since when did you get here?"

"When you put up the last two cards."

"Say, the Jazz-Man is out on the town and the Queen-Bee is gone right now, wanna know the hearsay?" She asked, obviously fishing for some attention.

"Sure!" I replied, knowing full well that attention was her purpose. "What do you have today?"

"Well, I don't mean ta' brag or nothin', but I got a killer story!"

'I'll bet', I thought while remembering the day… or night rather… that I just had.


	3. Chapter 3

Conductive

Chapter 3

Day: XX, Month: XX, Year: XXXX

*Store Bells Ring*

Voice A: Sorry, bub. Restaurant's closed and under repair.

Voice B: We know. We're a special investigative team dedicated to the wellbeing of the canopy kingdom. May we speak with the owner?

Voice A: You're speaking to him…

Voice C: *Audio Cut*

Voice B: He basically saying that both his name and the name of our organization are under strict classification. Don't bother asking.

Voice A: Ummm….

Voice B: Forgive his method of communication. We heard of a mafia attack earlier in the day. Care to elaborate?

Voice A: Yeah, there was a mafia attack. Why'd you think this restaurant looks like this? Decoration?

Voice B: We could do without sarcasm thank you.

Voice A: *gruff noise* Well, it was a rather busy day today compared to any normal day. Around 5:30, that star from the circus showed up announcing that she had something to do and was gonna get it done. A fight broke out in the restaurant and-

Voice C: *Audio Cut*

Voice B: Why would a fight break out? Was there an enemy of the mafia here?

Voice A: Nope, I heard that the fighters were trying to keep the civilians safe by distracting her.

Voice B: You're positive? Reports say that an infamous thief was here trying to protect their self.

Voice A: Absolutely! Why would a thief be in my restaurant? Why, I'd give them the boot faster than-

Voice C: *Audio Cut*

Voice B: You're reacting quite strongly against this accusation. Why?

Voice A: Because the fighters told me they were protecting everyone! Would a thief do that?

Voice B: To make themselves look good, or to look good in the eyes of the owner of the restaurant to name a few.

Voice A: Well, I think that she was fine.

Voice B: Care to give us a name?

Voice A: How should I know their names? They were random civilians!

Voice B: Dagonians?

Voice A: Ah… Well… No…

Voice C: *Audio Cut*

Voice B: He's right. That narrows it down considerably.

Voice A: Well, I didn't get a good look at the girl, so I couldn't tell you about her. *Long Silence*Well… uh… That's all I got for ya!

Voice B: It better be. If we ask around and find out that you were holding out on us…

Voice C: *Audio Cut*

Voice A: *gulp* Uh… well… Oh! The kid!

Voice B: Kid?

Voice A: Yeah. He was some blonde pretty boy looking kid with some kind of metal arms and an apron. I don't remember his name.

*Silence*

Voice C: *Audio Cut*

Voice B: Umm… where did this kid go? Did he tell you?

Voice A: Yeah, a bud of mine told me he was on his way back to New Meridian. Why? What's up?

Voice B: Classified. Thank you for your cooperation thus far. We will return at another time.

"_Your attention please. Day hours have been completed. Please report to your rooms for night hours. Report to your rooms for night hours."_

Shoot! It looks like today is over. Peacock was telling the story of when she fought this girl with parasitic hair in her continuing search of a legendary treasure. As usual, she got to the good part when her story was interrupted. Hive had made her way back as well and she surprisingly didn't poke holes in Peacock's story, and despite my earlier travels, she had somehow managed to top my story (of course, I never told mine).

"Lousy voice… I was jus' gettin' to the part where me an' the boys put her in the bag o' gags!" Peacock complained.

"I'll admit, today's story was actually quite entertaining!" I remarked. "I hope to hear the rest of it soon."

"Wouldn't you like to, pretty-boy," Peacock grumbled as she and her cronies left. I guess she was grumpy because the attention was gone.

"You know, I'll never understand why she gets so grumpy," Hive observed with a sting in her tone… Damn puns.

"Oh well," I said with a yawn as I got up and stretched my limbs. "I was just glad you didn't rip apart her story. Sometimes, a story is better with a little exaggeration"

Hive rolled her eyes and bid me farewell before leaving for her room. I too decided it was a good time to get to my room and made my way to my old wing. After my arrival, though, I found the hall taped off with caution tape and a sign was posted. Upon further examination, it was a standby paper that told all the experiments in this wing to go to another. I noticed that all the people in my wing were sent to Wing L, but only I was sent to Wing O. Odd.

I made my way back to the lounge. No one was there and I was almost afraid of being locked out of my room, so I hurried along to O Wing when I noticed something peculiar. A red light was on the ceiling of O wing, the same red light from last night. With butterflies in my stomach, I got closer to the light and sure enough it moved down the hall and up the stairs to the right, the same stairs leading outside. Getting more excited by the second, I followed it as quickly and quietly as I could checking behind me periodically to make sure no one was following me. Eventually, I reached the hall where Hive found me earlier and noticed that the light took a sudden right turn into the wall where I could only guess the door was. Sure enough, the light led me to the part of the wall where there was a hidden hallway with the large metal door at the end of it. Holding my breath, I walked up to the door and pushed it open.

I was met with a different surprise upon opening the door this time. The sun wasn't up yet and the sky was a pinkish hue. I guess my predictions were right, because when it's nighttime in the Lab, its daytime outside. To further prove this, I saw a bright yellow light peek out over the horizon and I could only stare in awe as I saw my first sunrise

With sense of adventure instilled within me, I made my way down the cliff ready to take advantage of a full day on the outside. Oddly enough, I didn't feel sleepy. I guess what I told Hive was somewhat truthful because I don't feel tired. I have to remind myself to thank Dr. Whitefin when I see him again.

WHITEFIN! I completely forgot! I hope he's okay… The last I saw from him was right before blacked out when he was seriously injured. I debated trying to go look for him back in the lab, but I couldn't go back in now. The door at the end of the hall was closed. I supposed that I was only able to stay outside for now. Maybe I could come back at the end of the day and look for him.

Now wasn't the time for that though. I had some exploring to do. It seemed I had a bit more time today, so I thought of trying to visit Yu Wan's restaurant and maybe visit New Meridian. Seeing as how the restaurant was on the way, I decided to visit there first. I arrived at Little Insmouth with the sun fully raised over the horizon. Making my way to the restaurant, I noticed through the windows that the restaurant was, in fact, closed for repair. Yu Wan, Nadia, and some other employees were hard at work fixing the holes in the wall, picking up broken glassware, and basically cleaning up the place. I felt a twinge of guilt for helping to destroy the place so I decided to at least try and help a bit.

"Hmm? Heeeey! Look what the cat dragged in!" I heard Nadia say as I entered the building. "Couldn't keep away from our rustic food and _charming _scenery?"

"Funny," I said while rolling my eyes. "You guys need an extra set of hands? I've got nothing else to do today."

"Sure," Yu Wan answered. "Why don't ya help Nadia with cutting the drywall? Seeing as how you were the cause of one of those giant holes…"

"Alright, alright!" I interjected. "I get the point, I'll get working."

Yu Wan chuckled to himself and got back to cleaning up the kitchen area. Switching my arms to labor mode, I got right down to the dirty work with Nadia. We started by trying to measure out the precise size of the two holes, but Nadia suggested instead of cutting the drywall (we had a limited amount) we try to cut the wall to fit. With Yu Wan's permission, we cut the wall until it was the size of the drywall. We then got some planks of wood that Nadia called 2 x 4's and she said that we had to fix the frame-work behind the drywall next.

"Shoot, I forgot!" Nadia exclaimed in the middle of hammering a nail. "I need you to go to the hardware store and pick up some plaster."

"Gotcha," I replied. "Uh… where is it?"

Nadia gave me a funny look and then said, "Right… at the edge of town? Near New Meridian? Don't you pass by it when you come here?"

Uh-oh… looks like I've got to think fast here. "Well… I didn't see it because I was… uh… excited to get here! Yeah! And besides, I've only been here twice. I don't really know my way around here yet."

"Oh yeah, I guess you're right," Nadia said, seemingly convinced. "Well, yeah it's just at the edge of town so it's not that hard to miss. Tell 'em that I sent you and you shouldn't have a problem."

"Alright, will do," I said as I left the restaurant. I made my way out the restaurant and towards New Meridian. All I had to do was make my way down the canal on the boardwalk and I eventually reached a rather sketchy looking area that looked like a mix of Little Insmouth and what I guessed was New Meridian. Feeling a bit apprehensive, I went into the hardware store.

My nose was instantly assaulted by the smell of lumber and paint. Despite the look outside, the inside of the store actually looked rather nice and up kept. Easing my nerves, I looked around for the plaster. Not finding at first, I decided to ask the Dagonian at the front counter.

"Hello Sir! I was wondering if you could tell me where the plaster is located." I said to the person behind the counter.

"Sorry, we're about to go to lunch. Try coming back later," He replied in a sore tone.

"Wait, what? You can't show me where a little thing of plaster is before you go? Oh right!" I said remembering what I was supposed to say. "Nadia said to tell you she sent me."

"Nope, sorry skipper. I don't know no Nadia."

"That's ridiculous! She said you'd be able to help me! This is horrible service!"

"Look, now you're getting annoying so why don't you pop off, eh? We don't need you shiny, prissy New Meridian's insulting the customers with your complaining," He retorted. I guess that's why he's being nasty to me. Lots of people from New Meridian most bother this guy. Do I really look that much like a New Meridian-ite?

I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to convince this guy, so I decided to try and tell Nadia that whoever she thought she knew didn't know her back. Just as I was leaving though, someone from the back of the store said, "Marlin, Nadia IS Ms. Fortune you dummy!"

I looked back to see none other than Minette coming from the back of the store with a plastic container labeled 'plaster'. I was wondering how she was here and why she had plaster, then it occurred to me that Nadia may have planned this. That sly little tomcat…

"Seriously you ought to give a nice apology to…" She went on until she saw me. "Leduc? What are you doing here?"

"Picking up some plaster for the restaurant," I replied in a deadpan tone.

"That's what I was doing though. Why would Nadia tell both of us to…?"

"It seems this little meeting was planned by our feline friend," I said with a nervous chuckle.

"Well that's still no excuse for you, sir!" She scolded to the casher. "You ought to know one of your best customer's first names!"

"Oh, jeez. Sorry, Mac," The guy at the counter said apologetically. "I didn't know you were a pal of Fortune's. You said you need to know where the plaster is."

"Well you're too late now. We'll just be on our way," Minette said as she dragged me out of the store.

"Nice guy," I joked when I was out of earshot.

"Yeah, you're not kidding. Though you can't blame him, people from New Meridian aren't too kind to Dagonians," She said with a bit of a sigh. "Any way, what's up? I haven't seen you since you punched Cerebella through the wall."

"Oh not much, I've just been helping Nadia out," I said while starting to walk back to the restaurant.

"You know, you can just call her Ms. Fortune. I'm sure she's fine with that."

"Look, I know it was bad that I punched a hole in the restaurant wall, but you don't need to tease me about it."

"What? No! I mean her name is Nadia Fortune!" She said giving me the weirdest look. "What are you, daft?"

THAT MADE MUCH MORE SENSE! Jeez, now I feel horrible for that whole episode with Nadia when I first met her. She was trying to tell me her name, not tease me.

"I… knew that. I'll just keep calling her Nadia though. If you have a name, you should use it," I said matter-of-factly.

"Well, don't say it too loudly. I'm sure you know this, but 'Nadia' has been on the run for a while now as a thief and as an enemy of the mafia, which you saw yesterday," She said hunching down into a whisper.

"Can't deny that. What has she done that's so bad though?"

"Well, you know how she can take herself apart like she does? Well, she stole an extremely valuable gem that grants eternal life to the user. The mafia didn't like it and went after her. So she ate it and right afterwards they sliced her to bits."

"So that's why she can take herself apart!" I said finally getting it. Goodness, then however old she is, I couldn't guess even if I tried. This whole outside world keeps getting weirder and weirder by the second.

"Yes, but I'm telling you this in full trust. You can't tell anyone you know about this."

"Then why are you telling this to me?" I asked, confused.

"Because Ms. Fortune seems to trusts you," She answered in a serious tone. "It's not very easy to gain a thief's trust, but if you have her trust, you have my trust."

She didn't realize how wrong she was. I still don't think anyone from the lab knows about my adventures and I'm pretty sure everyone I know on the outside thinks I'm from New Meridian. Nevertheless, I replied, "Well, don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"Good, because I don't think any of us would appreciate it," She said as we finally made our way back to the restaurant. "Especially Yu Wan or myself."

Re-entering the restaurant, Nadia had actually gotten some work done with all the 2 x 4's. The wall's frame was actually complete and all that was left was to lift up the drywall and nail it into place. Nadia noticed us coming in and with a smirk said, "Well, fancy seeing you two together. Where were ya, on a date?"

"Funny, Ms. Fortune," Minette said in a deadpan tone. "How much did she pay to keep you quiet Yu Wan?"

"Why, you should know me better than that Minette! I don't accept tips," He replied with a failed attempt to hide a smirk.

"Whatever," I replied before there was too many insults being thrown around. "We have the plaster so let's just get these last two walls up, shall we?"

"Good idea," Yu Wan replied making his way over to us. "Then we can work on the painting, and then the cleaning, then the costs and we should be done!"

"Sounds like a plan, Mew Nyan," Nadia confirmed. "Let's get these walls up!"

The next half an hour or so consisted of getting the bottom of the wall to fit into the hole and then tilting the other end up so that it filled the wall. Nadia then hammered in some nails to connect the frame-work while Minette and I worked on plastering the edges with Yu Wan working on some other things. With all the nails in, we put some plaster over them to give the wall the appearance of being flat. After doing that twice, we took a bit of a break, considering it was actually pretty hard work.

"Sour Plum Juice?" Yu Wan asked while coming out of with a tray of dark purple drinks.

"Sour what now?" I asked picking up one of the glasses.

"Oh, just drink it!" Nadia exclaimed, clearly exasperated at my cluelessness.

I put the dark-violet drink up to my lips and was pleasantly surprised to taste a sweet yet tangy sensation. It was very refreshing since it was very hot in the restaurant and the drink was very cool.

"See? You already like it," Minette noted before she took a drink.

"Yep, that's usually the reaction from a first time trier," Yu Wan explained while I polished off the last of my drink. "And since you're the first one done, can you go into the kitchen area and bring out the painting stuff? I forgot to bring it in."

With an audible groan, I got up and made my way into the kitchen. The stuff was on a counter on the other side of the kitchen. I was going to get the bag and bring it back in, but I heard some weird sounds come from back within the restaurant. Looking through the little window on the door, I froze in fear.

To my complete surprise, I saw a bandaged up Stanley Whitefin talking with the rest of the crew. In a panicked frenzy, I hid back behind a counter in the kitchen. What was HE doing here? I mean, I'm glad to see that he's ok, but seriously, he had a freakin' therapy machine fall on him, and he's here? Trying to catch me out of the Lab? Telling myself to stay calm, I decided to stand by the door with the window and try to listen to what they were saying. Maybe I could get a better understanding of what was going on.

"… Oh wow, that sounds like quite the freak accident," I heard Yu Wan say.

"Indeed," Stanley replied wispily. "I'm afraid it's affected everything from my legs to even my breathing."

"Oh gosh, are you going to be ok?" Minette asked, obviously concerned.

"Don't worry; the doctors said that I would be fine with rest and such. Besides, I'm a Dagonian! We heal fast anyway."

"That may be true, but it can't beat me!" Nadia replied trying to make a joke.

"Well, as fun as it has been talking to you, I need to get my soup and get home. I'm afraid my sides are acting up again."

"In that case, wouldn't you want a little help carrying your food? I mean, it's the kind thing to do…" Minette asked.

"No, I'll be fine. I have to keep moving, being a shark and all, right? Besides, my house is only a few minutes away. Thanks for the thought!" He said as he left the restaurant.

That was too close. I almost walked out there with Whitefin of all people to catch me. It looks like I have to be a tad more careful around here, now that I know Whitefin lives here and could catch me. Scanning the scene one more time, I left the kitchen with the bag of painting stuff and said, "Hey sorry it took so long, the stuff was hidden under the counter."

"Ah shoot, I must've moved it when I made the sour plum juice. Sorry about that," He said somewhat sheepishly.

"Way to go, Mew Nyan. He didn't get to meet our friend because of you!" Nadia accused jokingly.

"Oh, someone was here? I hadn't noticed," I said, lying through my teeth.

"Yep, a good friend of ours who just so happens to be the town's top Doc: Barry Knots," Nadia explained.

Wait, what? Barry Knots? Who the heck are they talking about? That was clearly Stanley Whitefin! Unless… maybe that's his civilian name. He must be allowed outside the lab as well! Now I know that they want to be kept a secret.

"Oh… interesting. A shame I couldn't meet him," I replied knowing full well that I was actually relieved.

"Alright guys, I'm not paying you to make small talk, let's get painting!" Yu Wan said trying to steer away the conversation.

"But, you're not paying us at all right now," Nadia said as we all got back to work.

Thank goodness we could work again. I can do some thinking now. I might have to not visit Little Insmouth tomorrow, since it was too risky. I guess tomorrow I could go see what all the fuss about New Meridian was. Though I wasn't counting on much, after seeing what it looked like from the hardware store. However, that would mean having to pass though Insmouth anyway. I suppose I could see these guys for a second and then make my way to New Meridian. Oy, this is starting to get a little ridiculous.

After we had finished the painting, we got to doing the cleaning and other small things until it was around nighttime. When Minette swept up the last bit of broken plate ware, Yu Wan said, "That should be everything! Thanks a lot all! You can go home now if you want, because I need to calculate damages."

Knowing that I should probably get back, I said, "Alright, well I'll get going. I have to get home anyway."

I left the restaurant and made my way towards the cliff once more. On the way, I made sure not to have any paint on me before I went in, lest I be found out. Luckily for me, it seemed that everyone else had gotten some paint on them besides me. That's somewhat explainable because of my fear of being touched by any water based liquids, because you know… electricity. At the top of the cliff, I looked back down at Little Insmouth and gave a small smile. I had fun today, and I couldn't wait to go back out.

I looked towards the billboard and saw that the door was open again. It seemed that the door would only open if its sunrise or sunset. Fine by me, that just means more time outside. With one last look outside, I made my way back inside and closed the hulking door behind me.

"_Your attention please. All combat based experiments, report to Wing C for combat training. All combat based experiments to Wing C."_

Oh boy. I forgot that today was a combat day. That basically means we spar with one other experiment to see if we learn anything or improve in our combat skills. I never was too good at this, but I supposed that I should be confident. After all, Cerebella was a pretty tough opponent.

I decided to quicken my pace so as not to be late for my inevitable sparring. I made my way to the end of the hall and looked out both ways making sure that no one was watching. Sure enough, no one was, and I walked into the hallway. I had to get to Wing C fast though, so I ran down the hallway back to the lounge, noting that the secret hallway had disappeared again when I turned my head over my shoulder.

Arriving in the lounge, I noticed all my Wing-mates were coming out of Wing L, including Hive. She noticed me and gestured me to come on over.

"Well, howdy stranger!" Hive joked. "Glad you decided to visit us after moving to a different Wing."

"Hey, that wasn't my choice. They put me there, you can even look at the paper," I replied hiding a smirk.

"Well, whatever. I guess I can just beat you senseless during our bouts today. I'll make you sorry you moved."

"Wait, I'm fighting you today?"

"Ugh, yes. Don't you ever listen to your personal schedule? It's been on there for a while now," Hive said matter-of-factly. If that was true, then I can't go easy on her. I lost last time we sparred and she hasn't let me live it down. Then again, I wasn't as combat ready then as I am now.

When we finally arrived within the combat area of Wing C, all the experiments crowded around the schedule to get a look at when the bouts would be. Coincidentally, Hive and I would be fighting each other before any of the others, so we cut through all the other experiments and made our way into the combat arena. As per usual, two scientists were in there to give us our specialized protective gear which consisted of thin rubber armor for Hive and a plastic, beaded, chain-mail like, sting proof armor for me. This armor was special in that it will protect us from each other's attacks, yet it's programmed to do the same thing to us even if we're hit. Like say I used my fist-bang on Hive. She won't feel it because of the rubber, but the armor will make her crumple on hit. It's really cool now that I think about it.

"Aw, come on doc! I don't need that stupid rubber suit! Leduc couldn't hit me even if I was standing still!" Hive said, obviously trying to incite a reaction out of me.

"Be careful what you wish for," I taunted back. "I think it'd give you a fair chance with it on."

"Wow, I think it'd be more of a fair chance for you with it off!" Hive teased getting the last of her armor on.

"Hey, let's just let our fists do the talking, huh?" I said, knowing that Hive's purpose was to get on my nerves. We both had the last bit of armor on and we were now waiting for the Doc's in the spectator room to tell us to start the fight. Things were starting to get intense, considering that all the other experiments stopped what they were doing just to watch us; we were best friends, so they knew that this would be an interesting bout.

Hive confidently walked on over to her starting spot and decided to put on a show for the other experiments. With plenty of flourish, she switched into her battle mode which always surprised me because it looked nothing like her. From her legs up, her metal, insect like armor was grafted onto her body making a loud 'snikt' noise with every armor part. Her hands then changed into the honeycomb looking barrels for her many dive-bomb attacks that would surely ensue. Finally, her headpiece was mounted on giving her the appearance of an insect with mandibles.

The experiments watched in awe as Hive finished her show and started whispering amongst themselves. Not wanting to leave them empty handed, I decided to put on my own show. I discharged some electricity to give off an interesting lighting effect and switched my arms to battle mode. I tried to make it as slow as possible so as to keep the intensity, which seemed to work when my arms discharged even more electricity during the switch. To finish, I charged an orb of electricity between my hands and squished it between them which sent the electricity visibly coursing through my body inciting some ooo's and aah's from the crowd.

"Not bad, Pretty-Boy. But a little bit of static won't help you here," Hive jeered.

"Who are you, Peacock? That's a pretty old one," I jeered back. I couldn't wait for the test now. The whole room was buzzing with excitement and the air between Hive and I was so thick with tension that you could cut it with a knife. I can honestly say that this was going to be the most exciting battle in a long time; since Big Band vs. Peacock even! All that was left was to get the OK from the Docs and Professors.

"Attention Experiment Hive and Experiment Leduc. Your combat session will begin momentarily. Please wait for the Doctors to finish their final preparations," A voice resounded over the speakers in the arena. C'mon, let's get going already! I want to practice some moves to show off to my buds in Insmouth!

Hive was getting antsy as well, already warming up her wings for when she starts flying. Not wanting to be caught off guard, I stretched my robotic limbs and made sure they were in working order. Also as a bit of practice, I wound up a few of my punches and let 'em fly just to get that warmed up as well. I didn't bang my fist on my palm though, because I wanted to keep that a surprise for Hive.

"Attention Hive and Leduc. Spar will begin in t-minus 5… 4… 3… 2…"

Here we go.

"1… GO!"

Hive instantly ran an arc around me and jumped into the air taking flight as soon as possible. Smart girl, she knows not to stay too close to me. I tried to chase her down, but again I found myself rather sluggish when I ran even with all this pent up electricity. Hive, seeing me struggle to keep up, took her opportunity and charged at me from above. She let loose a barrage of needle's from within her arms as a dive-bomb attack aimed right at me. I dodged them as best as I could, but one of them hit me in the foot, pinning it to the ground.

"Got ya now!" Hive yelled as she started her turnaround. I knew her next move was going to be to build up speed and give me a momentum based kick, so I had to get out of this fast. With little time, I started trying to get the needle out of my foot and get out of the way. Unfortunately, my armor thought that it was lodged through to the floor, so no matter how hard I pulled it wouldn't budge. Seeing as how she was too close to me, I decided to suck it up and defend myself by discharging some electricity and blocking by holding my arms in a plus pattern. Hive didn't hold back though and gave my blocking arms a great kick. I went careening across the room and Hive stalled mid-flight and had somewhat of a crash landing because of the electricity. I got up seeing stars in my eyes and quickly tried to get them into focus. When I did, however, I noticed something odd.

The electricity I had used was colored red for some reason; I could see it jumping around on Hive. I had never made red electricity before, so now I was somewhat worried not only for Hive, but for myself. Who knows what red electricity meant? It didn't seem to deter Hive, though, and she soon ran in an arc and got back into the air. This time, she didn't try to build momentum and instead did something I had never seen her do before. She had jumped into the air only to soon thereafter dive at a 45 degree angle straight at me. Not knowing what to do, I blocked by holding my arms in a plus pattern again which Hive gladly tried to attack with another kick. This time it wasn't as powerful, but she was able to keep attacking me while forcing me to block. With a flurry of kicks and some blasts from her arms, she did a pretty good job of keeping on me. As another surprise, she finished her string of attacks by shifting her blasters into a lance and jabbing it at me leaving me just out of punching distance.

"Where'd you learn that?!" I asked, exhausted from blocking all her attacks.

"You didn't know? Beezle can do all sorts of neat, painful things!" Hive sneered and started flying again.

That was true; Hive recently acquired a synthetic, controlled parasite nicknamed Beezle Bomb. In fact, a lot of experiments seemed to have a synthetic parasite now, so it made me feel a little out of the loop considering I didn't have anything helping me out. I didn't have time to feel left out though, Hive was back in the air, and I needed a way to get a hit on her.

The crowd outside seemed to be siding with Hive however, so I decided to try and make things interesting again. I thought maybe when Hive came near me again I could try banging both of my fists on each other to do a double shot of electricity. She seemed to be gathering momentum again so I tried it while waiting. What happened next was something quite shocking… kill me now, I made another pun.

I banged my fists together in such a fashion, that I made a bluish electricity come from them. I then saw it jump out from my fists and start to pull Hive out from in the air. She was flailing with panic as she got closer and neither of us knew exactly why she was being physically drawn to me, but I certainly wasn't going to waste the opportunity. I charged up a punch and clocked her in the middle of her back sending her flying into a crumpled heap on the floor. I stood there frozen in awe and decided to taunt her by doing the same sort of fist bang which caused more blue electricity to jump. I then noticed that I was making a minus sign with my arms, which allowed me to figure out as to why what just happened ended up happening.

When I was blocking, I was making a plus, or positive sign which made a red electricity. When I banged my fists together, I made a minus, or negative sign which made a blue electricity. I think that whenever the two types of electricity are used in conjunction, they have a magnetic effect! Like a positive-negative attraction! Holy crap, I can do so much more strategizing in a fight now!

Getting instantly used to my magnetic effect, I placed the blue electricity on the ground below me. I then ran towards Hive to keep on the offensive. She was still getting up, and when she saw me approaching, tried fleeing to the air. It was to no avail though, for I grabbed her by the foot. With a smirk, I spun her around and threw her towards the blue charge on the floor. Seeing my opportunity, I made a positive charge with my arms, which caused me to start being drawn to the spot on the floor. I started running with it which brought my speed up twofold and I gave the still careening Hive a mighty running punch, sending her flying across the arena. It seemed that the electricity could be used in more ways than just on your opponent.

After getting up again, it was Hive's turn to be surprised, "Okay, now where did YOU learn THAT?!"

"I don't know! Isn't it awesome?" I replied excitedly.

"Yeah, its peachy keen…" Hive retorted to herself as she slowly got back up.

I made sure to hurry and put a negative charge on the ground, but I wasn't quick enough because Hive was jumping up to do another 45 degree dive. Thinking fast, I made another negative sign and punched the negative charge on the ground which caused me to jump straight into the air due to the magnetic repulsion between the charges. I watched as Hive looked up with utter astonishment when she flew under me, and seeing my opportunity I banged my fist on my palm and gave her a stun blast right between her wings. Letting out a shriek, Hive plummeted to a rough landing on her arm. I landed as well, inciting some cheers from the other experiments.

"That will be all, Leduc and Hive. You both performed well, learning and applying new techniques. In battle, however, there is always a loser, and in this case it was Hive who was deemed "knocked-out" by her sensors. Congratulations Leduc," A voice echoed over the arena speakers.

I switched my arms out of battle mode and nodded in satisfaction. I finally beat Hive after weeks of trying. I was never going to let her live this down! Being the nice guy that I was, though, I walked over to Hive and helped her back on her feet.

"Nice shooting," Hive said while holding the arm that she landed on. "You're going to have to teach me how to counter that. I've never seen you do anything like it!"

"Neither have I," I replied in all honesty. "It felt really natural though, so I have no idea what happened."

"That can't be a good thing," Hive replied seriously. "Go get that checked out then."

I made sure she was taken care of by the Docs and made my way to the office. They didn't seem to try and stop me when I started using my newfound magnetic abilities, so what did I have to worry about? It's not like I could get seriously injured by something that felt so natural. What was the worst they could tell me? Well, I had a lot to worry about actually but that's only because something extremely odd happened.

The red light had appeared over the entrance to the Observation Deck. I found this weird because usually it only showed up during night hours in the lab, but now it was here. Doing what any sane person would do, I tried to follow it. Sure enough, it led me outside of the arena and back towards the lobby towards Wing O. It led me through the familiar path towards the hallway leading outside. I finally made it to the end of the hallway and noticed the light was gone. Doing what I would normally do at this time, I opened the door to see a beautiful moonlit night. Taking a step out, my foot accidentally stepped on something. I looked down to see what it was.

To my surprise, I saw the red light on the ground, except it wasn't lit. It just sat there. Finding it odd, I went to pick it up. When I did, I noted its shape: a red Medic symbol. Finding it really weird, I turned around to go back into the lab and show it to the Docs. That's when the unthinkable happened.

In the doorway behind me was a nurse with blue hair. She quickly noticed me and before I could stop her, she closed the door leaving me outside the lab.


End file.
